Dear Pershing Families,

I am excited to welcome you to the start of the 2018-2019 school year!  I hope that you had a great summer break and that you are ready to return to school.  We are welcoming several new staff members to the campus this year, including five master teachers.  Our main commitment continues to be improving student outcomes through setting high expectations for teaching and learning on our campus.  The teachers and staff have been busy preparing for the year to ensure that teaching and learning are happening at high levels.  This year we will continue to implement a Social Emotional Learning curriculum through Sanford Harmony that focuses on growing our students’ social and emotional skills.  

For families that are new to Pershing, this will be my third year as the campus Principal.  I’ve worked at Pershing for the past ten years as a teacher and other administrative roles and I’m happy to be back to continue to serve our students and the community.  

I would like to take a brief moment to review some important procedures with you.  Arrival time for students is at 7:30 a.m.  Please do not drop off students earlier than this as we do not have staff on duty at that time.  Students in Kinder through 6th grade are to be dropped off in the area near the gym. They will walk up the stairs and to their classrooms. PreK students will be dropped off through the main doors near the office. If parents wish to walk their PreK student to class, they will need to stop by the office and get a visitor's pass. The bus students will be dropped off in the front of the building, entering through the cafeteria doors. For dismissal, students who ride the bus will be escorted to specific bus loading areas.  If you plan on picking up your child, we ask that you park your car and pick up your student in the courtyard.  Please do not block other cars when you park your vehicle. The classroom teachers will be waiting in a line with all of the grade level students.  Please wait until the teacher releases the child to you.  Remember, that only authorized adults will be allowed to pick-up your child from school.  We are also asking for some assistance from our parents with a couple of other procedures on the campus.  While we understand that some students have a need to bring cell phones to school because of communication with parents at the end of the day, we are asking that all student cell phone be turned off and put away while at school.  Student cell phone use while on campus is prohibited.  Another procedure is regarding uniforms.  Please ensure that your child is in uniform each day.  We will allow students to wear light weight jackets in the building if needed, but uniforms must be worn and visible underneath and jackets.  Hoods are not allowed to be worn while in the building.  We appreciate your support with this!

I look forward to working with you and your child as we continue on our path to improve student performance on our campus!

Your Principal,
Casey Calland